Swindler's OTK is a One-Turn-Kill (OTK) Combo deck. Using plenty of card draw, 0-Magicka Charge minions, and Supports that buff said Charge minions, you can reliably kill someone in one turn every game. This is a very powerful strategy in Elder Scrolls Legends, as all the cards you draw for your opponent by breaking Runes cannot be used by them if they are dead. Most Prophecies won't have any effect either, making this deck well-suited to beating both Control and Aggro Prophecy decks. On the other hand, more "honest" Aggro decks like Token Archer or Midrange strategies are more difficult to beat.

Legend Proof:
https://i.redd.it/bunjuwqnrhiy.png

Because there are so many different ways of building this deck, I'll only focus on the one I piloted to Legend and I won't be including a "substitute and alternate options" section this time.

FALL OF THE DARK BROTHERHOOD EXPANSION: I cut the 2 Markarth Bannermen and added in one more Hidden Trail alongside Astrid. Markarth definitely won me a few games, but I realized that I would much rather have another Support instead of a big creature that your enemy has removal waiting for - and believe me, this deck doesn't put out any threats aside from Markarth, so they'll be saving up their removal. Astrid provides consistent achievement of the goal that the Brotherhood Slayer attempts to do, due to the Lethal. However, if you don't have the Dark Brotherhood expansion, just throw in another Curse.

GENERAL MATCHUPS:

W/L Swindler's OTK
8/4 vs Ramp Scout
10/10 vs Sorcerer
4/6 vs Assassin
16/3 vs Mage
14/10 vs Spellsword
17/7 vs Battlemage
6/4 vs Warrior
6/5 vs Archer
3/3 vs Monk
9/2 vs Crusader
93/54

Aggro:
Mulligan away any combo pieces like Supports or Firebrands. Keep your early draw cards and removal, even Curse. Do everything you can to stop damage to your face. You need to figure out exactly how long you can survive and factor in any burst damage your opponent may have, including from Items. This lets you know whether you have to spend Magicka on removal or dumping it on Supports if you're getting near OTK.

Midrange:
Mulligan for Northwind Outposts, Guards, and hard removal. You can't stall very effectively against Midrange because their minions are much more efficient and hard to remove. However, they are much less likely to have burst from and empty board. If you can wipe their minions off the board before they can start snowballing, do it, even if you have to use Firebrands to do so. Your opponent will give you more cards to replace them.

Control:
Mulligan for card draw, raiding Parties, and Hidden Trails, drop everything else. Most of the time this is an easy matchup. Try to be greedy with your combo pieces and hold onto Northwind Outposts until the combo, unless your opponent is pressuring you. Sometimes you actually can't play Raiding Party because it will overdraw you, it's usually acceptable to wait to play that too.

INDIVIDUAL CARD USAGE AND DESCRIPTION:

Nord Firebrand:
5 of these plus 5 buffers and you've got 30 damage from the hand for as low as 0 Magicka the turn you play it. Use them wisely, just remember that sometimes you need to get rid of one or two just to survive.

Close Call:
These are even better than Firebrands as they will trigger all your Swindler's Markets an additional time, sometimes getting you the extra damage you need for lethal. You may be forced into using this on a Murkwater Witch or Leaflurker for defence, or on a Merchant's Camel if your hand is really bad.

Curse:
This deck needs Magicka to play its card draw and Supports out, so this little gem is really useful for playing even with 0 Magicka available for defense. In addition, it triggers your Finish Off's and Leaflurkers while also activating Swindler's Markets, making it invaluable in all matchups. Sometimes you can even just play it on it's own to slow down a creature that you know will be around for several turns, reducing incoming damage drastically over time. Other times you will actually use Curse to squeeze in the last few points of damage for lethal.

Shadow Shift:
This is mostly taken for the cheap card draw, but it has plenty of other uses. It's great for adjusting the positioning of your Guard creatures against Aggro, or your Varanis Couriers that your opponent is trying to ignore. It also has usage when you are OTKing and your opponent's Prophecy throws a Guard in your way. In those situations, you can move a Firebrand that hasn't attacked or an Orc Clan Captain into the other lane and start swinging from there.

Rapid Shot:
Cheap card draw and combos very well with other damaging effects/Finish Off and Leaflurker. You may need to use these on your own minions to accelerate card draw against Control, or use it inefficiently against 1 health

Finish Off:
Huge tempo gain for very little cost. This card can be activated in so many ways, but sometimes you may have to use it inefficiently. Against an Aggro/Midrange 4/2, for example, sometimes you have to Rapid Shot/Finish Off just to prevent the repetitive damage coming in.

Murkwater Witch:
Another hugely efficient card for very cheap, this card can be used to destroy early game Aggro pushes or trigger your Finish Offs against Control.

Thieves Guild Recruit:
Crucial card draw, even though you can't trigger his bonus ability in this deck. Also useful for basic combat against Aggro.

Northwind Outpost:
Probably the best card in the deck. Doubles, triples, or even quadruples the base damage of your Firebrands for only 2 Magicka. It's so cheap you don't mind the tempo loss from getting it destroyed, but that also means that you can hold onto it until combo time when you'll likely have enough Magicka to play it anyway (against Control, that is). The only negative about this card is that it doesn't do anything for you in the meantime, as the only Strength cards you'll be throwing down regularly are Markarth Bannermen. At least with Orc Clan Captain, you can use him to make some emergency trades with your Agility minions.

Orc Clan Captain:
Most of the time he is a worse Northwind Outpost, but he's still in the deck for consistencies' sake.

Raiding Party:
Never leave home without it! Getting guaranteed 2 Firebrands is crucial from this card, and in some situations wins you the game on the spot. However, as I mentioned above, against Control don't rush to play this too early unless they are pressuring you early on. You may end up with too many "can't play" cards in your hand like Close Calls and Captains, and you'll be forced to play Firebrands or overdraw the Supports you need to combo.

Swindler's Market:
This card is really interesting. Sometimes you need to wait to play it until after using a Curse or somesuch as it can break enemy Runes unintentionally, but other times you need it down as fast as possible against Aggro decks. When OTKing, remember that it will break Runes before you attack with your Firebrands, and there are a few Prophecies that will Shackle, kill, or block your Firebrands. To counter this, plan your OTK so that you can break Runes either after you hit face with the Firebrands or when casting a Close Call or Curse. This way, they won't have anything to Shackle, Lightning Bolt, or Guard against.

Crushing Blow:
Yes, Malefic Wreath is that bad. Crushing Blow is necessary in many situations just to remove moderately sized threats, although it can also be used for that little bit of extra reach when killing your opponent.

Varanis Courier:
Very good stall card along with giving more consistency in the form of card draw.

Merchant's Camel:
This card is so good in this deck I cannot even begin to express it. With so many simple "card draw" effects that you need to pay for, using Merchant's Camel you can simply draw straight through them. If you get the options of Thieves Guild Recruit, Shadow Shift, and Raiding Party, it is as if you played a 4 Magicka 1/4 that drew and then played 2 other cards that draw for you, and you dig all the way to your much-needed combo pieces.

Hidden Trail:
This card is a 2-of partially because it has a negative effect (most of the time you cannot take advantage of the extra Shadow Lane but your opponent likely will), but also because 4 Magicka costs can make things really awkward. However, it is far better than Northwind Outpost in the Control matchup as you can double the attack of your Recruits, Witches, Couriers, and Camels while also building up to your combo. It also adds some more consistency to the whole idea.

Markarth Bannerman:
When Bannerman gets an attack in, it usually signifies game over because the effect is so powerful (cast a 3 Magicka Raiding Party for free!). However, it is a 2-of in this deck partially because Markarth almost never gets an attack in, and partially because, with all of the card draw in this deck, getting an attack in with Markarth is not as necessary to win. If you have a Markarth in hand, refrain from hitting face as you don't want Markarth breaking any Runes.

Leaflurker:
With all of the small minions and wound effects in the deck, this guy shines. He is mostly valuable in slowing down the advances of Midrange and Control decks by eating up Lightning Bolts/Crushing Blows or 2-for-1ing your opponent.